JR in the DR

Well I think its safe to say this post might be a little different from my last visit to Lauren. No resort luxuries this trip, I think that's safe to say - quite the understatement actually. Although for some reason, I think I enjoyed this visit much much more...probably because Mom and Dad didn't come with me this time (just kidding, Barn and Vick..)

Here's how the week began:

Sunday 10am: First flight out to Miami. Managed to battle the airport by myself! I am proud to say that I am officially an established traveler and LOVE flying solo.
2:30pm: Flight to Puerto Plata.
4:00pm: Arrive in the Dominican Republic where I am greeted by Latin musicians and photographers that look like Vegas showgirls? (that's the closest analogy I can think of to compare). Lauren plus a few friends arrive to pick me up and take me to Baoba!

Side note: I absolutely love the ride to Baoba. It takes about two hours and the ride consists of swerving to miss potholes, pedestrians, cows, motors, other cars, etc. but the view along the coast is gorgeous!

Dinner on Sunday consisted of arroz y habituelas (rice and beans) which was actually really really good. I'm not sure if I was just so hungry or if Lauren's cooking skills have improved drastically but it was not as bland as it sounds. (LR tells me that people in the town think that her meals are too spicy).

After dinner a few kids came over from the youth group (people will just visit throughout the day), ranging from 4+ and played cards, chatted (with Lauren) and tried to chat with me until they realized that this americana did not speak the language as well as her sister. The lights eventually go out and kids go home, while Lauren I get ready for bed by candlelight and gas lamp.

Not real sure of the time but sometime throughout Sunday night/early Monday morning this rooster kept crowing outside the house and I don't know who ever came up with that "fact" about roosters crowing at daybreak, because that is a MYTH! This one crowed about every hour. Although I'm sure it didn't help that most of the night I was tossing and turning due to the heat, mosquitoes and biting flies, and then the fact that Lauren and I were sharing a pillow.

Monday 6:45am: Run with some of the jovenes to the beach
7:45am: Breakfast of sausage cheese balls (Thank goodness for Mom packing those in my suitcase!)
10am: Then the dreaded bucket bath. Lauren often referred to this as a shower. No, no. No shower. Well there's a shower head. That will drip water into a bucket, that you will pour over your head. The water was so cold and after that first 5 seconds after I poured it, I honestly considered not bathing for the rest of the week. Luckily for Lauren and the residents of Baoba I managed to brave it through Thursday.
12pm: Had a lunch of peanut butter and crackers. (FYI: they make really good pb in the DR!)
For the remainder of the day, visitors dropped by or we went and visited with some of the families there. Lauren was my personal translator for the week and most of the time I was just trying to comprehend what was being discussed in conversation. As many years of Spanish I have had and it is still EXTREMELY difficult to speak the language. Not only are regional dialects different, but it's spoken so fast! Alot of the time I could figure out what was being said, just not smaller details and then how to respond. Lauren and I would talk at the end of the day about how exhausted we were! All we had done that day was literally sit around. We came to the conclusion that your brain is constantly trying to comprehend the conversation around you - even when I would be reading a book, I would look up and still be trying to figure out the topic of discussion around me.

Other meals we ate during the week included platanos fritos (fried plantains which tasted just like french fries), bean soup, more peanut butter crackers, etc. Some of the kids would bring us their flavored milk from school (tasted just like a milkshake!)

On Tuesday Lauren's neighbor took us on his moto to the lagoon down the road. It was unbelievable! It was like a scene out of Lost. It's a lake surrounded by tall rocks and vines, all covered in shade so the water is a really cool temperature. (We took pictures on LR's camera so hopefully she will put up a picture on here, but even a picture won't do it justice.) They have ropes running across it since the water is so deep. After we went swimming for a while, he took us to get yogu (yogurt). Again, delicious! (I think part of the reason why all the food was so good was because everything was full-fat - this yogurt was not Mom's Weight Watchers yogurt that I'm used to getting out of our refrigerator). I even loved the moto ride - I've been saying for a while that I want to ride a motorcycle so maybe this will satisfy that fix for a while.

On Wednesday, I went with Lauren to her sex ed class where she taught on abstinence. Afterwards, there was a surprise birthday party for Valeria, one of the girls there. I finally was starting to get closer to the younger kids there - (they love rock paper scissors!) and then all of the older kids in LR's jovenes group wanted to ask me questions - the girls wanted to know whether I liked it there, the boys wanted to know if I was single, and the little kids just wanted to play more games.

It may seem like Lauren and I didn't do much during the week, but I very much wanted to see the life that she lives from day to day. I understand how she gets so exhausted with the kids not going to school (one girl didn't go to school because she washed her hair; another boy didn't go to school because he was helping his mom clean the house; and then another boy decided not to go to school for an unknown reason, yet came over to Lauren's house to visit in his school uniform just so she would think he had gone!) and I realize that so much of her job is to form relationships with the people in the town. They are already beginning to talk about when she has to go back to the US and how sad they will be. They joke and say how she is never going to come back once she leaves. I know this isn't true because I spent less than a full week there and I already want to return before the end of summer. (If you would like to contribute to the "Take JR to the DR" fund, it would be greatly appreciated.)

I didn't take very many pictures (sorry Mom), but the few that Lauren and I did take I will try to put up here ASAP!

That's all for now! :)

-Jordan